Before this, the old man had always considered himself a model grandfather, even believing the marriage he arranged for Mu Xiang was excellent. He also felt that regardless of the other party's disposition, as long as the social standing was equal, it was sufficient.
However, a single sentence from Lin Yan filled the old man with guilt towards Mu Xiang, leaving Mu Long speechless.
The wolf demons watched them, having nothing more to say, as they couldn't compare to Hu Yuan's parents.
At this moment, he looked at the grandfather and grandson who only understood 'cherishing' after losing it, and his heart sank.
As for whether their intentions were sincere, he didn't know. He only knew... that habits die hard. Judging by appearances, he was convinced that if Mu Long were resurrected, he would only resent Mu Xiang for breaking his leg. Nothing else would change; in other words, he was certain that Mu Long would completely forget every word he had said.
In short, in his eyes, Mu Long would always be a scoundrel.
The reception hall.
Mu Anxiao stopped in front of Ouyang Ye.
Ouyang Ye looked down at the blood seeping from between Mu Anxiao's fingers, smiled, and extended his hand to Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao swallowed, 'tasting' the thick smell of blood in his mouth. He took half a step back and began to cast a spell to stop the bleeding.
Ouyang Ye watched Mu Anxiao's spellcasting and said with a smile, "You'd best wash your face too."
Mu Anxiao ignored Ouyang Ye.
The fake Mu Long looked at the 'unstopping' Mu Anxiao with concern, his heart growing anxious.
On the other side, Feng Qishi broke free from Ye Yu, took two steps forward, and ignoring Mu Anxiao, turned to face Ye Yu, who was about to embrace him again. He said, "Look." As he spoke, he quickly reached into his sleeve.
Ye Yu frowned at this.
Feng Qishi smiled at Ye Yu, then took out the candy that Mu Anxiao had given him not long ago from his sleeve and offered it to Ye Yu.
Following Feng Qishi's movement, Ye Yu's gaze was fixed on Feng Qishi's hand. He asked, "Is it candy?"
Feng Qishi nodded.
Ye Yu shook his head, "I don't like it."
"You don't like it?" Feng Qishi was startled.
"I don't like it," Ye Yu said, then suddenly rushed forward and hugged Feng Qishi again.
This time, Feng Qishi was helpless.
Just then, Piao drifted into the Mu family. He walked along the rows of lanterns, then stopped outside a brightly lit guest room. With a gentle movement, he cautiously poked his index finger through the window paper, then peered through it with one eye squinted, seeing Mu Xiang sitting at a round table. He thought, "Is this the groom?"
As he thought this, he shifted his gaze and saw Wan Sha walking towards Mu Xiang. His eyes widened.
He didn't recognize Mu Xiang, but he was very familiar with Wan Sha. So, he shifted his gaze back to Mu Xiang's face, observed her for a few seconds, and concluded that she was female.
Unexpectedly, just as Piao made this conclusion, Wan Sha saw his silhouette reflected on the window paper. "Who is it?"
Hearing the sound, Piao admitted defeat, straightened up, and said, "It's me."
"It's you, who are you?"
"Piao."
"Piao." Wan Sha repeated, her eyes widening. "You've come." As she spoke, she quickly walked forward and opened the door.
Piao looked around, confirmed no one else was there, stepped over the threshold, and entered. "Yes, where is Mu Anxiao?"
"Aren't you here to save..."
"I'm here to find Mu Anxiao, and in a way, to save you," Piao knew that only by saying this would Wan Sha cooperate.
Upon hearing this, Wan Sha thought of her current relationship with Mu Anxiao. She said no more, gesturing to Mu Xiang. "Her name is Mu Xiang."
"Mu Xiang." Piao followed Wan Sha's finger, looked at Mu Xiang's face, and exclaimed, "You're the bride!"
Mu Xiang dodged his gaze slightly.
Wan Sha frowned. "She's my partner, not the bride."
"Partner," Piao repeated, then turned to Wan Sha. "Then who is the bride?"
"The bride..." Wan Sha didn't want Piao to know too much, so she began to fabricate a story. "The bride is Mu Anxiao."
"..." Piao's eyes widened.
"Is your demon art still there?" Wan Sha tested him.
Piao came back to his senses, looked Wan Sha up and down, and stated directly, "I know, your demon art is gone."
Wan Sha: "..." She didn't want to be exposed so directly and was left speechless.
Piao, not wanting to waste more time with Wan Sha, shifted his gaze back to Mu Xiang's face. "Where are they?"
Mu Xiang: "The reception hall."
"The re..." Piao uttered a word, remembering another branching path, and said calmly, "I should have taken that path."
"What?" Mu Xiang didn't understand Piao's meaning.
Piao said, "It's nothing, please lead the way."
"She can't go," Wan Sha said agitatedly.
Hearing this, Piao asked, "Why?" He looked at Wan Sha.
"Her brother is here, her brother..."
"That's Mu Xi," Piao interrupted, as he had already grasped the basic situation.
Wan Sha was momentarily silenced.
Mu Xiang: "I'll lead the way, are you very powerful?"
When Piao heard Mu Xiang's words, he immediately showed a narcissistic expression. "Don't say it, I am indeed very powerful. I even surpass Feng Qishi and Mu Anxiao."
"Really?" Mu Xiang's eyes lit up.
Wan Sha knew Piao relatively well; he was a demon, and most deities couldn't defeat him. Therefore, she decided not to make any unreasonable remarks, lest speaking too much be detrimental to her.
"..."
"Yes, really," Piao affirmed.
Mu Xiang: "Can you protect us?" She pointed at Wan Sha.
Piao glanced at Wan Sha and smiled. "If it's protecting you, yes. Her..." He glanced at Wan Sha. "...that depends on my mood."
"Depends on your mood?" Mu Xiang repeated, thinking about her future days. She didn't want to offend Wan Sha, so she said, "If you don't protect her, I won't lead the way."
"You..."
"She is my partner. If something happens to her, I will have no support," Mu Xiang said seriously. "As long as you promise to protect both of us, I will lead the way."
Hearing Mu Xiang's slightly threatening tone, Piao was not angered. Instead, he found it amusing. "Are you sure you want to rely on her?" He pointed at Wan Sha.
In Piao's eyes, Wan Sha was a selfish demon soul. He believed it would be more worthwhile for Mu Xiang to feed her sincerity to a dog than to give it to Wan Sha.
However, seeing Mu Xiang's determined look, he didn't want to discourage her. Helplessly, he compromised. "Alright."
To him, protecting anyone was the same. Anyway, as long as they hid well.
Mu Xiang's eyes lit up when she heard this. "Okay, I'll lead the way."
At this moment, Wan Sha saw a shadow of Wan Xia in Mu Xiang, a feeling so distant that she once again began to miss Wan Xia and, consequently, harbored more "disgust" towards Mu Anxiao.
Piao glanced at Wan Sha and sighed. "If you ask me, you should be united now. It's not the time to settle personal grudges. I hope a certain demon can see the reality."
Wan Sha, understanding the veiled words in Piao's statement, temporarily suppressed her disgust towards Mu Anxiao and said, "Let's go."
"No messing around," Piao pointed at Wan Sha.
Wan Sha: "I won't mess around." As she spoke, she looked at the frowning Mu Xiang. "Lead the way."
Upon hearing this, Mu Xiang came back to her senses, nodded, then looked down at her clothes. "Should I change my clothes?" she asked, looking at Wan Sha.
Originally, they didn't need to go. Now that they were going, it was purely Piao's decision. Mu Anxiao had taken off his clothes and given them to Mu Xiang. If she wore them, she would definitely stand out, and Ouyang Ye would surely look at her.
Therefore, to avoid such a situation, Wan Sha looked at Piao. "Could you go out for a moment?"
"Why?" Piao didn't understand Wan Sha's intention.
Wan Sha frowned. "Her clothes are too conspicuous."
"Conspicuous?" Piao repeated, then suddenly remembered the conversation between the two mortals. "Right, is there really a demon?" The demon he referred to was Ouyang Ye.
Clearly, in the eyes of Wan Sha and Mu Xiang, Ouyang Ye was a demon. Wan Sha immediately nodded without thinking. "Yes, there's a demon. The demon will see her wearing these clothes." She pointed at Mu Xiang. "If it causes you trouble because of these clothes, wouldn't that be a loss?"
Hearing this, Piao thought Wan Sha's words made sense, so he compromised. "Alright, I'll wait for you outside."
"Thank you." Wan Sha smiled.
Piao glanced at Wan Sha's smiling face, averted his gaze, and then turned to leave.
Wan Sha stepped forward, smiled at Piao, and then closed the door.
Piao turned his back.
The reception hall.
Mu Anxiao's nosebleed had finally stopped thanks to her efforts.
Ouyang Ye: "Alright, you can marry me now."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao pursed her dry lips and said, "Who wants to marry you?" As she spoke, she looked at her sister-in-law, Mu Xiang, who was showing fear, and frowned.
Sister-in-law Mu Xiang: "Are you... are you rich or not?"
Mu Anxiao: "I..."
"Are you male or female?" Sister-in-law Mu Xiang asked again.
Mu Anxiao was speechless. She didn't know what to say to Sister-in-law Mu Xiang.
"I'm asking you..."
"Xin'er, stop talking," the fake Mu Long interrupted.
Hearing this, Sister-in-law Mu Xiang looked at the fake Mu Long. "Husband, I'm scared," she said, pouting.
The fake Mu Long knew that Sister-in-law Mu Xiang had never encountered such things before. Moreover, as an ordinary mortal, she never believed in the existence of people like them. At this moment, her mind was in turmoil.
Mu Anxiao understood Sister-in-law Mu Xiang's feelings. When she first met Shen Yan, she was the same... for a while, she even doubted whether the world she interacted with was real or fake.
Seeing Sister-in-law Mu Xiang's frightened expression, she couldn't help but see a shadow of her past self.
The fake Mu Long embraced Sister-in-law Mu Xiang.
Ouyang Ye smiled. "It's right to be scared." As he spoke, he raised his hand.
Mu Anxiao saw this and quickly asked, "What are you going to do?"
She sensed... that Ouyang Ye was not right. It seemed that although he was using magic, a demonic aura was emanating from him now. That demonic aura... was very similar to the demonic aura emanating from the monsters by the cliff.
She wasn't sure if Ouyang Ye was involved with those monsters and Xi'er. However, judging by his concealment of his abilities, she thought he was definitely not an ordinary person.
Ouyang Ye: "I know you don't believe I can kill people." He saw through Mu Anxiao's thoughts.
Mu Anxiao was stunned. "You are a deity, how can you..."
"People have good and bad," Ouyang Ye's lips curved into a smile. He turned to look at Mu Anxiao. "Naturally, deities also have good and bad deities."
"You want to kill people?" Mu Anxiao clenched her fists, preparing to fight him.
"Kill people," Ouyang Ye maintained his smile and extended his hand to Mu Anxiao. "What do you think?"
Mu Anxiao took half a step back.
Seeing this, Ouyang Ye's expression turned cold. "Don't move," he said, stepping forward and grabbing Mu Anxiao's arm. "Otherwise, I can't guarantee their lives."
Their lives? Can't guarantee?
At this moment, Mu Anxiao deeply understood another meaning in Ouyang Ye's words, but she didn't know how to ask him.
"...." Her eyes widened.
Ouyang Ye: "I know you can feel it."
Mu Anxiao stared intently at Ouyang Ye's face, sniffed the air, and found... the demonic aura was growing stronger. However, this time she clearly felt... that the demonic aura was not emanating from Ouyang Ye, but from the roof beams.
Thinking this, her nerves tensed. Just as she was about to look up, Ouyang Ye suddenly reached out and pressed her head down. Then, he leaned in and pressed his forehead against Mu Anxiao's forehead, saying, "Don't look up."
Their distance was very close, but Mu Anxiao felt nothing. She stared blankly into his eyes and said, "You've collaborated with a demon."
Ouyang Ye: "Aren't you curious why that demon wasn't affected by me?" He smiled evilly.
Mu Anxiao: "Curious," she continued to meet Ouyang Ye's gaze. "Will you tell me?" Her head was completely controlled by Ouyang Ye, unable to move.
"I..." Ouyang Ye's lips curved upward. "Of course, I won't tell you unless you marry me."
"Then you'd better not tell me," Mu Anxiao said. Seizing the opportunity, she raised her hand and grabbed Ouyang Ye's other hand, threatening, "Let go of me, or I'll crush your bones."
"You can..." Before he finished speaking, Mu Anxiao had already increased the force. Ouyang Ye felt intense pain and gritted his teeth. "You're using demon arts."
"Let go, or else," Mu Anxiao said with feigned menace. "Your hand will be no more."
"You..." Ouyang Ye endured the pain, sneered, "You're too naive. You think your demon arts can subdue me? I am a deity."
"I am also a deity, and besides," Mu Anxiao still held Ouyang Ye's hand tightly, "my magic is higher than yours."
"You..."
"Your spiritual energy is not high," Mu Anxiao interrupted. "If you weren't aided by this guy who uses demonic energy, you'd probably be useless."
"You are useless," Ouyang Ye said coldly, standing up and glancing at the hand he was pressing on her head. "If you don't let go soon, I'll absorb your spiritual energy."
For Mu Anxiao, spiritual energy was the pass to exist in the Heavenly Realm.
When Ouyang Ye said this, her heart suddenly jumped. She said, "Fine, I'll count to three, and we'll let go together."
"Okay," Ouyang Ye nodded.
On the other side, after carefully breaking free, Feng Qishi turned towards them with Ye Yu. Then, he squinted at the distance between Mu Anxiao and Ouyang Ye, his eyes widening. Just as he was about to call out, Mu Anxiao quickly counted to three, and then they separated.
Seeing this, Feng Qishi closed his mouth.